Qantas says hit by ‘significant’ cyberattack

[SYDNEY] Australian airline Qantas said on Wednesday it was investigating a “significant” cyberattack, after hackers infiltrated a system containing sensitive data on six million customers.

Qantas said hackers had targeted one of its customer contact centres, breaching a computer system used by a third party.

They had access to sensitive information such as customer names, email addresses, phone numbers and birthdays, the blue-chip Australian company said.

“There are 6 million customers that have service records in this platform,” the company said in a statement.

“We are continuing to investigate the proportion of the data that has been stolen, though we expect it will be significant.”

Credit card details and passport numbers were not kept in the system, Qantas added.

BT in your inbox

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

“There is no impact to Qantas’ operations or the safety of the airline.”

Chief executive Vanessa Hudson said Qantas had notified Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator.

“We sincerely apologise to our customers and we recognise the uncertainty this will cause,” she said.

“Our customers trust us with their personal information and we take that responsibility seriously.” AFP